(i) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a compressor used to compress a refrigerant for, for example, a vehicular air conditioner.
(ii) Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a compressor of this type includes a compressor body, a compression section for compressing a refrigerant sucked into the compressor body, and a separation chamber for separating a lubricating oil, which is contained in the refrigerant discharged from the compression section, from the refrigerant. Thereby, the refrigerant compressed together with the lubricating oil in the compression section in the compressor body is separated into refrigerant and lubricating oil in the separation chamber, and the separated refrigerant is discharged to the outside of the compressor body.
Also, the separation chamber is provided with a separation tube in the vertically extending separation chamber having a circular cross section, and is configured so that the refrigerant containing the lubricating oil is caused to flow in the tangential direction of the inner wall in the upper part of the separation chamber and is swirled along the inner wall. Thereby, the lubricating oil contained in the refrigerant adheres to the inner wall of the separation chamber and is separated from the refrigerant, and the separated refrigerant flows in the separation tube and is discharged to the outside of the compressor body.
However, in the conventional compressor, a pipe serving as a refrigerant discharge port is connected to the upper part of the separation chamber, and the separation tube is fixed by the end portion of the pipe. Therefore, since the location of the refrigerant discharge port is limited to the upper part of the separation chamber, the degree of freedom of the arrangement of refrigerant discharge port may be restricted.